The Great American Read

Santa Clara County Library District

Joins PBS for The Great American Read!

From May 22 – October 23, we’re joining PBS’s The Great American Read, a nationwide hunt to find America’s best-loved books. Read from PBS’s 100 Best-Loved Books list, and submit a vote for your favorite at The Great American Read website. Along the way, you can also cast your ballot to determine the best-loved book in YOUR community through SCCLD.

Join us to celebrate the power, passion and joy of reading through the lens of America's 100 best-loved books. These interesting titles, gleaned from a representative poll of Americans, can be found at your community library in a variety of formats.

Stay tuned to learn more about The Great American Read, and to learn which book is voted as America’s favorite on PBS, as well as the favorite book in your community.

The vote for America's favorite read was launched on May 22 with the premiere episode on PBS, and will continue throughout the summer, leading up to the finale in October 2018.

What is YOUR community’s favorite read? Vote here or on a paper ballot at your local library. Your community favorite will be announced this fall.

The Great American Read

Nominees

Select one from this list:

1984 by George OrwellA Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy TooleA Prayer for Owen Meany by John IrvingA Separate Peace by John KnowlesA Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty SmithThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark TwainThe Alchemist by Paulo CoelhoAlex Cross Mysteries (series) by James PattersonAlice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis CarrollAmericanah by Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieAnd Then There Were None by Agatha ChristieAnne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud MontgomeryAnother Country by James BaldwinAtlas Shrugged by Ayn RandBeloved by Toni MorrisonBless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo AnayaThe Book Thief by Markus ZusakThe Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DíazThe Call of the Wild by Jack LondonCatch-22 by Joseph HellerThe Catcher in the Rye by J.D. SalingerCharlotte's Web by E.B. WhiteThe Chronicles of Narnia (series) by C.S. LewisThe Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. AuelThe Coldest Winter Ever by Sister SouljahThe Color Purple by Alice WalkerThe Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre DumasCrime and Punishment by Fyodor DostoyevskyThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark HaddonThe Da Vinci Code by Dan BrownDon Quixote by Miguel de CervantesDoña Bárbára by Rómulo GallegosDune by Frank HerbertFifty Shades of Grey (series) by E.L. JamesFlowers in the Attic by V.C. AndrewsFoundation (series) by Isaac AsimovFrankenstein by Mary ShelleyGame of Thrones (series) by George R.R. MartinGhost by Jason ReynoldsGilead by Marilynne RobinsonThe Giver by Lois LowryThe Godfather by Mario PuzoGone Girl by Gillian FlynnGone With the Wind by Margaret MitchellThe Grapes of Wrath by John SteinbeckGreat Expectations by Charles DickensThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldGulliver's Travels by Jonathan SwiftThe Handmaid's Tale by Margaret AtwoodHarry Potter (series) by J.K. RowlingHatchet (series) by Gary PaulsenHeart of Darkness by Joseph ConradThe Help by Kathryn StockettThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas AdamsThe Hunger Games (series) by Suzanne CollinsThe Hunt for Red October by Tom ClancyThe Intuitionist by Colson WhiteheadInvisible Man by Ralph EllisonJane Eyre by Charlotte BrontëThe Joy Luck Club by Amy TanJurassic Park by Michael CrichtonLeft Behind (series) by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. JenkinsThe Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-ExupéryLittle Women by Louisa May AlcottLonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryLooking for Alaska by John GreenThe Lord of the Rings (series) by J.R.R. TolkienThe Lovely Bones by Alice SeboldThe Martian by Andy WeirMemoirs of a Geisha by Arthur GoldenMind Invaders by Dave HuntMoby-Dick by Herman MelvilleThe Notebook by Nicholas SparksOne Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García MárquezOutlander (series) by Diana GabaldonThe Outsiders by S.E. HintonThe Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar WildeThe Pilgrim's Progress by John BunyanThe Pillars of the Earth by Ken FollettPride and Prejudice by Jane AustenReady Player One by Ernest ClineRebecca by Daphne du MaurierThe Shack by William P. YoungSiddhartha by Hermann HesseThe Sirens of Titan by Kurt VonnegutThe Stand by Stephen KingThe Sun Also Rises by Ernest HemingwaySwan Song by Robert McCammonTales of the City (series) by Armistead MaupinTheir Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale HurstonThings Fall Apart by Chinua AchebeThis Present Darkness by Frank E. PerettiTo Kill a Mockingbird by Harper LeeThe Twilight Saga (series) by Stephenie MeyerWar and Peace by Leo TolstoyWatchers by Dean KoontzThe Wheel of Time (series) by Robert Jordan and Brandon SandersonWhere the Red Fern Grows by Wilson RawlsWhite Teeth by Zadie SmithWuthering Heights by Emily Brontë